In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites are required for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Convert to Grayscale is available in the Workflow. The purpose of this Fixup is to convert selected objects to the Grayscale Color Space.
2. General
The Fixup Convert to Grayscale can be used to convert all selected objects to grayscale. Spot Colors are also converted to grayscale.
You can find this Fixup on the tab Data Preparation of an Article, Order or Production Job by:
- entering the name of the Fixup in the area Filter,
- activating the option Color in the area Category,
- activating the option Convert in the area Action,
- activating the option Grayscale, Images, Vectors or Text in the area Property.
3. Description
This Fixup can be used to convert selected objects in a file from any Color Space to grayscale. However, Spot Colors are also converted and cannot be excluded from the conversion.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to perform as intended, the following requirements must be met:
- At least one object must be created in a Color Space other than grayscale.
- Used Spot Colors should also be converted.
Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Convert to Grayscale
The following options are available for converting to grayscale:
- Object Type [1] – select which objects should be affected by the conversion in the selection menu. The following options are available:
- All Objects – all objects are converted to grayscale.
- Images – all images are converted to grayscale.
- Images with Lossy Compression – all images with lossy compression are converted to grayscale. This includes images that have been compressed using JPEG.
- Images without Lossy Compression – all images without lossy compression are converted to grayscale. This includes images that have been compressed using LZW.
- Line Art – all line art / vector graphics are converted to grayscale.
- Line Art, Text and Smooth Shades – all line art / vector graphics, texts and smooth shades are converted to grayscale.
- Smooth Shades – all smooth shades are converted to grayscale.
- Text – all texts are converted to grayscale.
- Variable Content [2] – for Variable Content [2], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the selection of the object type should be retrieved. The following values must be present in the selected field for the selection to be performed:
AllImagesImgsWLssyCmpImgsWOLssyCmpLnArtLnArtTxtSmthShdsSmthShdsTxt
Figure 2: Values in the selected field for the option Object Type
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Convert to Grayscale.pdf". The file was created in CMYK, consisting of line art / vectors, an image, a text line, a Spot Color and a smooth shade. The background was created as a Spot Color. The green leaves of the plant are an image. A smooth shade and a line of text were added to the flower pot.
After applying the Fixups, the file "Sample_Convert to CMYK_End.pdf" was created. In this file all objects including the Spot Color were converted to grayscale. The values from Figure 1 were used.
Figure 3: Left: Original file; Right: Edited file in which all objects were converted to grayscale
Article update: Workflow 1.20.0 – 03/2025